Nationalities

Nationalities in Spanish
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Nacionalidades

Every country and continent has an adjective that can be used to describe people and things from that place, using the verb ser. Those same adjectives can also be used as nouns to refer to people from that place.

Por ejemplo…

No soy español.   I’m not Spanish.
Tengo una tía española.   I have a Spanish aunt.
Conozco a un colombiano.   I know a Columbian (man).

Here are some nationalities and "continentalities" you might need to know.

Noun / Adjective   Nationality  
    Masculine Feminine
African   africano africana
American (North + South)   americano* americana
American from USA   estadounidense estadounidense
Argentine   argentino argentina
Asian   asiático asiática
Australian   australiano australiana
Brazilian   brasileño brasileña
Canadian   canadiense canadiense
Chinese   chino china
Colombian   colombiano colombiana
Egyptian   egipcio egipcia
English   inglés inglesa
European   europeo europea
French   francés francesa
German   alemán alemana
Indian   indio india
Italian   italiano italiana
Japanese   japonés japonesa
Mexican   mejicano mejicana
Polish   polaco polaca
Portuguese   portugués portuguesa
Russian   ruso rusa
Spanish   español española
Swiss   suizo suiza
Ukrainian   ucraniano ucraniana

Irregular nationality agreement

 Notes

Many nationalities are identical to their respective languages.

Nationalities, which are both adjectives and proper nouns, are not capitalized in Spanish. When feminine and/or plural, they follow the same agreement rules as other adjectives.

* This refers to anyone from either North or South America; to talk about someone from the United States, use estadounidense.

 Related lessons

Learn French En français

Learn Italian In italiano

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Nationalities in Spanish

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